This invention involves a body building exercise device and in particular provides a device to develop the chest or pectoral muscles.
There are two basic free weight movements utilized to develop the chest or pectoral muscles. The first movement is the straight out push away from the chest with a bar bell device. This exercise is generally undertaken while lying on the back and is known as the "bench press". The second type of movement, known as the "dumbbell fly" is a circular motion with a person's hands originating from the sides of the body, again while lying on the back. The person's arms are almost fully extended horizontally out to the sides and move through an equidistant plane from that starting position, up to above the front of the person's chest, until the hands meet above the chest, the arms remaining almost fully extended. While there is substantial strain developed by the intended movement, as the dumbbells are lifted from the person's sides, the resisting forces required by the pectoral muscles necessary to support the dumbbells deceases as the arms approach vertical. In fact, when the arms are vertical, the dumbbells are supported by the vertical shafts of the arms, with little or no strain on the pectoral muscles. Thus, during the movement of the arms, during the dumbbell fly, the force relationship between the upward push force required to lift the dumbbells decreases considerably such that the full potential of the exercise is lost as the arms are brought to the vertical position.
None of the exercise devices developed to the date improve the free weight dumbbell fly exercise to provide an equidistant unrestricted, variable force during the dumbbell fly circular motion, nor do they attain the objects and advantages described herein below.